The GATE that led to Peace
by Ger0nim0
Summary: A GATE to another world forced the Revolutionary Army and the Empire to come together in it's time of need. During the pandemonium, the Prime Minister is presumed missing. After a shaky peace is called between the Empire and the Revolutionary Army, Night Raid and the soon to be Jaegers are forced to team up to go beyond the GATE to a new world.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN:**_** The work you see here was written by "dude932." The rest will be written by me. Understandably, I won't be able to match his style, but I'll do the best I can to continue the story. Also, there songs that I'll be putting in all belong to their original creators. And the AGK series and GATE series do not belong to me at all.**

**Expect irregular updates, for I am also doing my story, "Far From Home."**

The halls of the Palace were quiet as Esdeath's heels tapped along the marble floors. She had just come from a de-briefing with Minister Honest, the Emperor was conveniently away with Budo at the moment giving Honest an even greater rule with the absence of the Emperor, or more so the absence of Budo. He had already set his sights on greater endeavours in the Emperor's absence, seeing as he didn't need to fool the puppet Emperor. Esdeath had informed the Minister that one of her Jaegers had perished in their pursuit of Night Raid, luckily they were able to discern the assassins base location and there were numerous soldiers ransacking the structure to find any evidence that could lead them to victory in this war. In the days to come the General expected results from the base which would give them a step up on the Revolution.

It had taken almost a fortnight after Dr. Stylish went missing but eventually the evidence was more than clear and they had tracked down the monstrosity that Stylish had turned into, the clear signs of Murasame's curse had been at work during the autopsy of the rotting creature that the doctor had become. Seryu was still grieving over the fact that Stylish was gone but her sadness turned into rage, directed towards Night Raid after they found out the circumstances of Stylish's death. Esdeath would need to keep an eye on her, to make sure she didn't do something foolish like Stylish had. If her subordinates couldn't follow her orders they were useless.

Her new team was down one member due to Stylish's careless actions, she thought she had judged better in her choosing of the Jaegers members. Just what had he sought to gain from going alone and just how had he managed to find Night Raid's base so easily? Now with this it only soured her mood more, with Tatsumi having vanished just before Stylish's death and not a trace of him since, the constant flow of unsanctioned experiments the Doctor created flooding the Capital's surrounding areas causing chaos to erupt among the people and losing a member of her team all in a short period of time her mood was quite irritable, things weren't looking any better as of yet.

As she walked she stopped as she felt an unnatural chill, something was wrong. Her Demon Extract made her immune to cold, yet she had felt one just now. Eyes narrowed as she looked around the marble hall, there was nothing in sight. But that didn't stop the gut feeling she had that something was amiss. Alarm bell's rang out signalling an attack and her eyes widened, it came from the direction she had just come from. The Throne Room.

Soon the Palace was an uproar of chaos as Esdeath turned and headed back the way she had come towards the Throne Room, but the battle had already begun. Imperial Forces stood against unknown creatures, beastly physiques and grotesque appearances as they fought with melee weapons against the soldiers of the Empire. She stood behind the masses completely stunned at the large structure that hadn't been here moments before when she had been giving her report.

It's size was immense, cracking support pillars and even reaching the tall ceiling. It looked perfectly sculpted and let out a presence that was just unnatural. As the battle waged on her eyes traveled over the sudden opposition, who were they, where had they come from, just what was this… Gate, and where did it lead? So many questions and no answers.

"General!" Esdeath heard the plea and turned her face to the man on the floor, just looking at him pitiful and weak made her narrow her eyes. He seemed to be have been taken off guard, there were three arrows in his shoulder and there was a noticeable amount of blood from a stomach wound leaving a trail through the carnage he had crawled through. It was Minister Honest himself. "Do something!" He cursed and she smirked, raising her fingers to her lips she let out an ear splitting whistle that sang out over the entire throne room.

"Retreat, fall back from the Palace." She ordered, not a single soldier disobeyed, those with vantage points took up rifles and laid down suppressing fire as the others started the retreat. As the unknown force of attackers tried to pursue they were halted by a massive wall of ice surrounding them, she had made it weak and she didn't have a single doubt that they would soon break through. Esdeath could already see that they were breaking through.

"I give you a few minutes Minister, before they break through." Esdeath smiled cruelly down at him as his eyes widened in horror. "I wonder if you'll survive or not." She mused, turning and following the retreating soldiers. Honest grit his teeth as he swore that he'd pay her back for this! As she left the throne room she knew the ice had broken and she heard Honest's screams down the hall.

Exiting the Palace the entire military force within the Palace was waiting for her to give them orders, with the Emperor gone, Honest likely dead and Budo with the Emperor she had full reign to do what she wanted. What she wanted was War, while Night Raid was still a priority, this seemed to be more amusing right now. It might even draw Night Raid out.

"The Palace is lost." Esdeath told them. "Fall back to the lower district, the enemy is advancing quickly."

"Ma'am, what about the upper district, surely we can set up a parementer around the Palace to halt their advance." Esdeath's cold gaze crossed to the man and he went pale, sweat beginning to form on his face under her gaze. "N-Never mind Ma'am." Esdeath watched as all the soldiers set about their orders, some ordering for the evacuation of the upper district, it would be impossible for the entire upper district to be evacuated in time, she didn't see the point. The nobles of the upper district weren't strong, they just had wealth and circumstance of birth.

Looking back to the Palace, the shouts from obvious looting soldiers, the screams of slaves and servants enduring the monstrous horrors of war that always lingered on a battlefield. Taking a deep breath in she smiled. Soon the Upper City will face the same situation which will rally the Empire to respond and retaliate against this unknown force. Once the force on this side of the Gate had been utterly destroyed The Empire will push through the Gate and discover just who was foolish enough to pull the lion's tail.

"_War is just too fun."_ She smirked as she walked away from the Palace, wondering just how long she could make this war go on for? This revolution was growing boring ever since she had come back from the North. She was also curious on just where would that Gate lead her and the Empire? Just how much blood would it let her spill. Grinning a sadistic smirk she felt a shiver of anticipation as the sounds of war washed over the palace. She could hardly wait.

X-X

"The Capital has been attacked." Najenda spoke as she read over a message that she had received that morning. Night Raid was still atop the Marg Plateau, it had only been a short few weeks since they had retreated from their old base after the defeat of Stylish who had tracked Tatsumi back to their base. None blamed Tatsumi for the discovery, afterall Lubbock and Akame hadn't picked up on the man trailing them either. "The Palace and the Upper City have fallen."

"Who attacked?" Mine asked, the other members of Night Raid standing around Najenda as she informed them of what was happening.

"An unknown force suddenly appeared via some kind of unknown technology in the center of the throne room." Najenda said as she continued to read the letter before sighing and rolling it up. "We're requested to head back to Revolution HQ, apparently the Emperor has called for peace talks."

"WHAT!?" A resounding shout came from the members of Night Raid, the only one that didn't comment was the large humanoid teigu Susanoo who remained quiet, simply taking in the information.

"You're saying that the Emperor wants the Revolution to lay down its arms against the Empire, yet raise them for the Empire against this unknown force?" Chelsea asked. "That's completely insane."

"Like it or not these are our orders." Najenda spoke. "Our current orders are to return to Revolution HQ, I'm to meet with the Leaders and join the peace talks with the Emperor, Grand General Budo and General Esdeath."

"That's suicide! It could all be a trap!" Mine shouted. "This is nuts, there is no way we can just take this and go along with it, we might as well dig our own graves."

"Enough." Najenda ordered, the group falling quiet. "Have you forgotten what we've been fighting for all this time?" Mine lowered her head slightly. "Our goal is for the eradication of the corrupt system in the Empire, not the destruction of the Empire." She told them. "We're returning to HQ."

"Yes Boss." Was the unanimous reply.

X-X

Tensions were high, two opposing sides across from one another. This forced confrontation of peace was something that members of neither side could accept but it was needed. With the new development that had struck the Empire, such a situation needed to be confronted and with how things were unfolding, it was necessary that these two sides would undoubtedly need to come together.

With the Gate of unknown origins and the large force that had come through the gate, ravaging the spoils that were held in the Palace, then proceeding to the Upper City and terrorising civilians while reports stated that an unknown amount of the Empire's citizens had been dragged back through the Gate. So far the Empire had held them off from entering the lower city, Esdeath's army along with the Empire's Police force had stopped the army from advancing any further however no order for advance had been given, for the sole reason that the Revolution might take advantage of the situation.

With the invasion been taken place within the Imperial Palace, most of the Empire's monarchy had either been killed or captured and dragged back through the gate and with the unknown forces spreading to the Upper City numerous nobles were unaccounted for.

The Emperor, having not been present at the time was safe and at this current meeting however the whereabouts of the Minister was unknown. Nobody had been discovered and the rumour was he was taken captive beyond the gate had started to form . Something that left a bad taste in Najenda's mouth.

Great General Budo and General Esdeath sat either side of the child Emperor who did his best to hide his nervous stature as he sat between the two Generals, a boy among Titans. The meeting wasn't taking place in the Capital, per the Revolution's request. They wouldn't have held the meeting in enemy territory and the meeting was in a small village south of the Capital.

Opposite the three were the most notable people of the Revolution, while the true leaders of the Revolution weren't present which Esdeath had commented on upon the their arrival, instead Najenda the former General now leader of the most active force against the Empire sat at the opposite end of the table, Akame stood stoic behind her not taking her eyes off the two generals flanking the Emperor then finally the leader of the Path of Peace simply known as; The Lord.

"It has been a long time, Najenda." Esdeath's cruel smirk made the former General scowl as she glared across the table with her uncovered eye, just being in this close proximity made her old wounds ache. Instead of giving the blue haired woman a reply she turned to Budo who had remained quiet, with his eyes closed and arms crossed as he waited.

"Budo." Najenda began in greeting, the large man opening his eyes. "Emperor Makoto."

"It's a shame we're to meet on such unfriendly terms, General Najenda." Makoto spoke, even if he was nervous he spoke clear towards her. "I've heard from both General Budo and General Esdeath that you were a considerable asset and were in high regard in my Father's forces." Najenda frowned slightly, unlike the current Emperor the former Emperor was a man of worth, she had her suspicions about what happened to the parents of the current Emperor but now wasn't the time to bring it up and she had no proof of what happened to Makoto's parents.

"We've come to discuss the terms of peace." Najenda spoke getting back on track. She still wasn't sure that this wasn't a trap, while the spies that had returned from the Capital had confirmed the unknown force and existence of the Gate there was still a lot riding on hearsay.

The full force of Night Raid would be ready at a moment's notice should she not come out of this alive. They had strict instructions to retreat with the Revolution and spread the news that the entire Monarchy was dead to the surrounding nations. It would cause the neighbouring nations to come together to defeat the tyranny of the corrupt Empire, Najenda was positive that Budo and Esdeath hadn't shared the information that they had no government in place with a weak leader. Esdeath and Budo were still a massive threat and it was highly likely that there was something going on here that wouldn't undoubtedly end up with lives lost.

"As you are aware, the Empire has taken a hard hit since the Gate arrived and the unknown force invaded the Imperial Palace." Budo began, staring across to Najenda. The silver haired former General didn't let it show, but this was the first time the information she had given had been a hundred percent confirmed. All she had going into this meeting were words of spies that were planted in the Imperial Palace. Now she knew it to be true, she fully intended to come into this meeting to die, but now she didn't know what to expect.

Reaching deep into the black coat she wore, the Royal Guards around them tensing and placing their hands on the hilts of their weapons, Akame reacting in kind as she placed a hand on the hilt of Murasame. Instead of a weapon Najenda pulled out a pack of cigars and placed them on the table before producing a single black one and placed it in her mouth before lightning it, taking a long draw before breathing out a large cloud of smoke. Leaning back in her chair she looked to Budo, now that she knew this wasn't some ruse, it didn't ease her any about the current situation but it certainly changed things. Honest was likely unaccounted for due to the fact that he wasn't here controlling his little puppet and the fact that this meeting was happening. Budo was probably the one taking charge of everything knowing if Esdeath was in charge there would have been a lot more carnage by now. Instead the blue haired General was simply going along with things so far.

"Prime Minister Honest is unaccounted for." Najenda couldn't hide her reaction this time, her eye flying wide open, her mouth hanging low her cigar resting on her lower lip from the moisture of her mouth. "Emperor Makoto wasn't present at the time of the Invasion and was spared from what transpired in the Palace." Budo continued. "The amount of citizens of the Empire taken beyond the gate is unknown, whoever these invaders are they're taking slaves. Each day more forces come from the Palace making an even larger force in the centre of the Capital." Budo explained, Najenda was still trying to overcome the fact the biggest piece of scum on this planet might be dead. A hundred thoughts were running through her head all at once but that all came to a stop when Budo spoke once more. "This Revolution of yours, it has to end." Najenda's cold stare would have made any lesser man flee in terror; however Budo remained unaffected while Esdeath smirked. Emperor Makoto shifted nervously, still letting Budo handle everything.

"You act as if something's changed, Grand General." Najenda all but spat back, noticing Makoto's shock, never had he seen someone speak such to the Grand General before, just how much hatred did the Revolution have against the Empire? "If anything, the Revolution should be allying itself with this unknown force; after all they've helped us." Budo's brow furrowed as his gaze grew tense and the panic in Makoto's eyes was easily seen. The boy Emperor expected this to go exactly to plan, not knowing the truth after being fed lies due to the Minister.

"Then you condone the acts of slavery that they wrought on the innocent people of the Empire." Budo growled out. "The Upper City couldn't be evacuated in time, these unknown warriors flooded into the upper districts of the city, killing and raping what they could, dragging woman and children back through the Gate, pillaging our great Empire!" Budo's hand crashed down onto the table causing a crack to run straight through the wood running from the impact all the way to where Najenda sat. "Is that what you've been fighting so hard for!?" Najenda could see that Budo, despite his appearance was furious at what had happened, how he had failed in his duty to protect the Empire.

Najenda had respected Budo when they had been allies; even now she respected the man. Budo wasn't at fault for any of the Ministers horrors, no his duty was keeping the Emperor alive. Najenda knew the man, knew how frustrated he was upon the Ministers corruption of the young Emperor. There was little Budo could have done to rectify the situation and simply continued his duty to protect the lineage.

"Please." The Lord spoke for the first time as he rose to his feet. "We've gathered here to attain peace towards one another." Najenda clicked her teeth as she sat back in her chair, folding her arms as she took another long drag of her cigar. She was too ill informed of what had happened; had she known she would have never provoked Budo like that. But there was also one thing that worried her, the silent monster sitting quietly. What did Esdeath think about all this; now that the Minister had disappeared it wasn't likely that Budo was going to let her do what she pleased meaning her place in this was unknown.

"What are you proposing Budo?" Najenda was honestly curious to know what the Great General had planned.

"We need to come together in the Empire's time of need." Budo concluded. "The Emperor is more than willing to sit down with the leaders of the Revolution to broker peace and end a conflict that has plagued the nation for far too long." Najenda caught the sight of mild irritation cross Esdeath's face as she crossed her arms trying to act indifferent but it was clear that she was not happy, but even Esdeath couldn't take on Budo and hope to escape unscathed, any injury she sustained from Budo would undoubtedly lead to her loss in the end against the Revolution.

"There will be terms of agreement that both sides will need to agree too, but this is an opportunity that we can't ignore. Honest has been outed and the root of the corruption has been torn out, I intend to rectify the mistakes that have been made in the Emperor's naivety." Budo added, Najenda glanced at the Emperor who had his head down, it seems with Honest's absence Budo had informed the Emperor of the corrupt nature of the man and was leading him along another path. Better late than never she supposed. "This is the time for the Empire to rise as the Nation that it has been in the past, to converge against this single enemy."

"_With Honest missing, and Budo in charge it's unlikely any corrupt noble would try to take authority of the situation."_ Najenda pondered to herself, knowing full well that Budo was feared just as he was respected. "_They would need Budo to lead their armies, turning against Budo would simply cause chaos, the Imperial Soldiers would follow Budo and Esdeath seems to be playing along for now." _Letting out another breath of thick smoke into the air, Najenda leaned back in her chair.

The Revolution had decided to let her solve this matter, Najenda having the best interest for the Revolutionary army. If she decided to agree to Budo's terms and it all worked out, it was all well and good but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that didn't trust the woman sitting next to Budo. What did she gain out of all this, Esdeath only ever did something if it benefitted herself, so what was it?

"I must agree with Great General Budo." The Lord commented from beside Najenda, by no means was the Path of Peace a solid ally to the Revolution but they had been planning an insurrection which the Revolutionary army had planned to take full advantage off when it came down to it. Najenda could at least confirm that the man spoke his words with honesty. "The Empire must rise as one, to long has there been bloodshed over our lands. We must come together to deal with this new foe, together with unity and the full strength of the Empire." Undoubtedly from his words, the Path of Peace planned on taking Budo's offer to join together, leaving Najenda's own decision.

"When all is said and done, when this unknown force is dealt with," Najenda began. "then what?"

"We will have peace." Budo told her. "Will you ally with us again Najenda or will you condemn the Empire you once served and now wish to save?" Najenda frowned as she felt a growing unease in the pit of her stomach; everyone's lives would be affected by her decision here and now.

"Very well Budo." Najenda nodded. "I have the authority to make such a decision; I will contact the leaders of the Revolution." Najenda told the General as she rose from her chair. "You can work out the details with them."

"Very well." Budo nodded as Najenda left with Akame.

X-X

Two weeks had passed since Najenda had returned from the peace talks, with news of the ongoing negotiations. It was than agreed that the Revolutionary army would head to the Capital and ready for the impending attack on the unknown forces through the Gate before proceeding through the gate to subdue any threats that may still be present on the other side.

Tatsumi walked through the streets of the Empire, the closer one got to the Upper Districts the more military orientated it got, soldiers were occupying former homes, less citizens were present and it almost seemed like martial law was in play. Sometimes if you walked past the erected barriers you could hear the sounds of conflict on the other side. So far, Tatsumi hadn't seen the other side yet.

Luckily Tatsumi's business didn't direct him towards the upper districts, instead he was heading for the industrial district of the city. He never really went into this part of the Empire before this so called peace, hell there was a lot of the Empire he hadn't seen yet. But he had been employed along with Susanoo and Lubbock as blacksmiths. With their identities still a secret, they had to play the part of helping out.

The citizens were still wary of the known members of Night Raid such as Najenda, Akame and Mine. Even among the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army, Night Raid was a sore subject, they had been an unwanted necessity. Whenever Tatsumi caught sight of Mine and Akame it was clear that the others were keeping their distance on purpose, they didn't want anything to do with the assassination group.

He often heard people talk about how they were just hired killers only in it for the gold, he wanted to defend Night Raid however Najenda had made it clear that if people didn't know they were apart of Night Raid it would be better, it seemed the Boss still wanted to keep the identities of the group a secret, meaning there still might be a need for Night Raid in the future. Tatsumi didn't know how this would all work out. For those of them with wanted posters such as Mine and Akame it was much more difficult for them to interact with other members of the Revolution and people in general.

Finally Tatsumi reached his destination, a large warehouse he had been assigned to due to his skill set as a blacksmith. Susanoo and Lubbock were already there waiting for him along with a large group of others that had been pulled into the workforce. The large Teigu he had only met a few short weeks ago had become a rather close companion to both Tatsumi and Lubbock, while nobody could replace Bulat, Susanoo was like a big brother to Tatsumi too, despite him being a Teigu.

"Yo Tatsumi." Lubbock greeted, the green haired assassin sitting on a stack of crates while Susanoo stood next to him.

"Sorry I'm late, I've still be getting use to the trek here." Lubbock nodded knowing the feeling. "Do we have the plans for today?" Tatsumi asked.

"Apparently they're being fitted today." Lubbock shrugged. "We were all just called incase anything breaks."

"It won't." Susanoo told them flat out making both assassins turned to him. "I checked everything, twice." He confirmed.

"Well if Mr perfect says it's fine, it's fine." Lubbock waved off. "We're just waiting for the Danger Beasts now." Tatsumi nodded and the trio headed inside the large warehouse.

Their job assignment was to outfit Danger Beasts with both armour for battle and to create and test designs for faster travel for larger battalions of soldiers. For the two humans, it was back wrenching work while Susanoo acted as if it was a cakewalk. Tatsumi and Lubbock had barely any time to themselves over the last month and what time they did get was either spent training or sleeping, it was just the a small group of them on this project and if it all went well that would change after today.

Day after day, they had been sent designs to cater to different species of Danger Beasts that were being tamed for the oncoming conflict that was to come. With the two Teigu that could control Danger Beasts, one belonging to the Revolution and one to the Empire, the Danger Beasts were being used for vehicles and weapons to use in the forces that went through the Gate. It wasn't long before the doors of the warehouse were pulled open causing the three to look up from their last minute checks to see the city police leading the way, massive creatures of all types could be seen being lead into them.

Susanoo was the first to see the tension in his comrades as they spotted the girl at the head of the Imperial Police. Seryu Ubiquitous was leading the group of soldiers. One might think it strange that the two assassins were more focused on the girl instead of the deadly Danger Beasts being led into the the massive warehouse.

"Go, if she sees you in here she'll report it to Esdeath." Lubbock hissed at Tatsumi, the brown haired assassin gritting his teeth. He could never truly control his emotions around Seryu, she had taken someone special from him. However the time for leaving was too late as Seryu was looking around before spotting them, her eyes instantly widening as a massive smile came to her face as she came charging over to the three, the small teigu she had with her begin dragged along on the leash with her.

"It is you Tatsumi! I saw your name on the work order but I had no idea it would actually be you!" She cried happily before leaping at the last moment and Tatsumi barely had time to brace himself before metallic arms wrapped around him and the full weight of Seryu along with Koro fell on him causing his legs to give out and for him to end up on his back. Tatsumi let out a grunt as his head bounced off the floor, Seryu's grip tight around him.

Lubbock meanwhile was fuming, chewing on his white and green cap in envy, Seryu might have been someone both of them hated but damn if he wasn't jealouse at the fact that despite everything, her slender body was currently pressed extremely tight up against Tatsumi's! Susanoo meanwhile just tilted his head at the action, his eyes focused on Tatsumi's strained face, the cheerful face of Seryu as she now straddled his waist talking a mile a minute all the while Koro was chewing on Tatsumi's pant leg.

"The General will be so happy to know that I've found you Tatsumi! It's was really rude how you just ran off like you did! I know it wasn't the most proper way of going about things, but the Generals a maiden in love, you can't fault her for that, can you?" Seryu continued on, Tatsumi watching her awkwardly from where he lay beneath her.

"S-Seryu. Seryu!" His voice didn't seem to reach her and he quickly shot a hand up and covered her mouth causing her to stop speaking and look down at him with glittering eyes. "C-Can you please get off me?"

* * *

_"We're gonna make it! We _are_ gonna make it!"_

_"NO, NO, NO! Let me go! I need to save her! That's my best friend!"_

_"I WILL MURDER YOUR FACE, YOU BASTARD!"_

_"Tyuule!"_

* * *

"(Gasp!)"

It was late at night when a white-haired woman woke up yet again from her nightmare. The same nightmare that haunted her three years after she was held captive by _that_ man. In her small room, with nothing but the bed she lied on, and rags for clothes, she let out a heavy sigh of frustration and held her head. Her name was Tyuule, an ex-Queen of the Warrior Bunnies, and current slave to the Emperor's bastard of a son, Prince Zorzal. Her bunny ears twitched when she thought she heard footsteps of her enemy, only to realize it was only a breeze blowing a stray leaf inside her room.

"Geronimo," she muttered to herself, "when will this hell ever end? Will I ever get out of this place and see the world again?"

VVVVVVVV

(Спокойная ночь · Кино)

"Good Night" by Kino

_Play?_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN:**_** Hello, Ger0nim0 here. From here on, as mentioned, what will be written in the future, will be written by me. By the way, this will take place five years after the year 2020 in my **_**Seraph of the End**_** fanfiction, "Far From Home." Speaking of which, I've decided to post one chapter for each story at a time. And yes, the Japanese will be coming in, as well as the American forces. Please enjoy the story.**

VVVVVVVVVV

Gerome's Home Playlist

"Sooner or Later" by N.E.R.D

_Play?_

VVVVVVVVVV

Calvin, Louisiana

July 4, 2025, 10:00 PM

Four days before the Gate

"Damn it all Geronimo! You forgot to buy fireworks again!? I can't believe you!"

"Technically, his pet _zombie_ is buying the fireworks."

"That doesn't make it any better McCoy, just so you know. Also, my 'pet' just had her humanity back, so her sense of direction isn't as good."

Tonight was Independence Day, the day when the Thirteen Colonies became the United States of America. Here in the small town of Calvin, at the house of Gerome H. Richardson, his friends, Jason McCoy and Sarah Nolan, who was his superior back in the Marine Corps, came to visit that month to celebrate together. However, because of the lack fireworks **again**, Gerome quickly sent out the revitalized zombie out to buy them. But the one problem was Sarah. For being an "uncaring tough girl", she was really serious when it came to holidays, whether they were American or not. And she had already caught on the fact that Gerome forgot to buy fireworks. She was a woman to be reckoned with.

Lately, Gerome became something of an internet celebrity, as he was known as the man who visited an alternate Earth and came back. The issues and tensions between the world of vampires and monsters and his world have somewhat calmed down, though it was clear that the vampire representatives and the human-rights representatives had a huge dislike for each other, and that was putting it lightly. But aside from that, a few vampires had fled from their kin and requested an asylum. And for some reason, of all the places to stay in, they were now living in the Richardson residence in Calvin, Louisiana. The reason for requesting an asylum was because they were active protectors of the Hyakuya orphans, all of whom carried the gene of the Seraph of the End. And because of that, Gerome had to build a bigger space on his property. The vampires in question were Krul Tepes, Queen Tepes, and Chess Belle.

_Ah, speak of the devil, and the devil shall come, _Gerome sighed internally.

"Master!~ How are you doing on this lovely night?~ Oh. Helloooooo Nolan." "Hi Krul."

"Boss! I can't find those matches you were looking for. Oh, never mind! Found them!"

"I must say Mr. Richardson, you have quite the collection here. A variety of books in various genres. Plenty of potential – what do you call them? – 'good reads.'"

However, despite them being shunned from vampire society, they pressed on and adapted to the varieties of human culture in his world, with Queen Tepes wearing a sky-blue sundress instead of what she wore as the Vampire Queen of Japan; she also had the cursed laptop that Asuramaru, real name Ashera Tepes, was contained in. Chess was forming a virtual band, with her being the bassist. And Krul…well she found happiness in serving Gerome.

Then there was the zombie. She was the newest addition to the house; she was quite different from the zombies in movies. She was undead, yet she looked alive. She had the face of a half-grinning demon, yet the heart of a loving angel. She had the voice of a deviant "smoker", but the words of a loving mother. The zombie was found by a necrophilic cult and was worshipped/experimented on. Without the guts to end her suffering, Gerome did the only thing he thought that could work. Give her his Black Blood. It revitalized her brain, making her more human, albeit, one with amnesia. But physically, she was no less of an undead creature than she already was. She was an infectious monster who feed on the flesh of any living and moving organism. She was an individual whose strength was unprecedented against her foes; with speed that made wind form behind her. Only her sense of direction was lost.

* * *

July 8, 2025, 12:30 PM

"Just today, the capital of Japan was recently attacked by unknown forces. Japanese authorities have yet to release their statement as to who attacked them. All we know is that it started in Ginza and that – What? We've just received a video from-"

Gerome was experimenting with his spicy gumbo dish when the news came on talking about how Ginza came under attack by an unknown army; an army that brought in fantastical creatures (ogres, kobolds, dragon-like beings) and wielded weapons that were, without a better word, outdated. The equipment and armor of the enemy reminded Gerome of the Romans, somewhat. After living eight years in a post-apocalyptic version of his world, he was NOT surprised by the news, whatsoever. Meanwhile, Krul, Queen Tepes, Chess, and Sarah were astonished by what was happening on the TV.

"Gerry! Are you seeing this?" Sarah pointed at the TV, which showed a stilled image of an armored man riding on one of the dragons, or wyverns as Krul called them. "I'm looking right at it," Gerome responded.

(T-Mobile jingle) Sarah pulled out a chrome-colored smartphone and looked at the screen. Then looked up at Gerome. "Can you excuse me for a minute? I need to take this call." Gerome nodded, letting his friend go outside to talk on her phone. The former Marine prayed to himself, hoping it wasn't some kind of omen. He REALLY hoped that whatever was happening, he preferred if he wasn't involved in it.

* * *

Tokyo, Japan

Ginza

En route to the Gate

July 25, 2025, 3:00 PM

He covered his face with his hands in frustration. He was pretty sure that what they did was illegal. Back in Calvin, he was just laying in the grass enjoying the night sky when a man in a uniform flashed a light in his face. According to the man, his former superior in the Marine Corps, he was being pulled out of retirement and back into the force as they had spread a little thin on their resources ever since the many guerilla attacks by a new Islamic terrorist group that branched off from another group like I.S.I.L. That new terrorist group managed to spread throughout North Africa and most of Europe. And thanks to that, they had to recruit more people in a hurry, and bring retirees out of retirement, into the force as this group, nicknamed Jimmies, were threatening to come to attack America. Then the Gate happened; few weeks later, Gerome was pulled into the fray, once more, riding in one of the Humvees. He wore his uniform, vest, helmet, and combat boots, and carried with him an M16A4 assault rifle (with a dual thermal vision/ACOG assault scope and laser/light attachment), a Beretta M9A1 pistol (with a tactical light attachment), a KA-BAR combat knife, as well as his emergency weapon, a Cursed Gear in the form of a black and green Japanese sword called Asuramaru. Admittedly, the demon, Asuramaru, wasn't actually in the sword, making it lose 50% of its power. It didn't it make it any less deadly than it was before, however. The sword was in its sheathe and wrapped in a black cloth, held closed by some nylon strings with only the hilt sticking out. Darkness covered them the moment they entered the Gate alongside with their Japanese counterparts.

"Hey," cried out a familiar voice. Gerome looked over to see his friend and fellow Marine, Rodrick Larsen, a dark haired man in his late-twenties, waving and smiling at him with a flashlight shined on himself. He knew that look. "I know you've had your fair share with vampires, demons and whatnot, but do you think there are bunny girls out on the other side of the Gate?" The puppy eyes on that man could make other puppies jealous.

Gerome just shrugged as he deadpanned, "I don't know, what do you think guys?" The others around him snickered. "Come on man! Be serious here." Gerome just closed his eyes. "Rodrick, as much as I want to talk about anime stuff, I'm too tired and I want to nap. Just wake me up when the shooting starts…" He ended his sentence with a snooze.

* * *

Other side of the Gate

Four individuals were surveying the valley ahead of them when they heard the rumbling noise of machinery. They looked behind them as four-wheeled vehicles and strange hulking things with cannons emerged from the large Gate, lights shining on them. For all they know, they could be working for the enemy, though their equipment seemed far more advanced.

* * *

"Geronimo. Hey, hey!" Rodrick tapped the aging Marine on his helmet, who woke up with a growl. He glared at the rude man. "Really? Knock on my head?"

"Look," Rodrick interrupted, "something weird is going on. We've got reports from the front that, uh, four people in strange clothing are walking by our convoy, observing us. That, and the Japanese are getting antsy."

That got Gerome to wake up more and peer out the windows of the Humvee. It was then, he found himself immediately developing a crush with one of the four strange individuals he saw outside. He was staring at a woman with black hair and a scar across her nose wearing what looked like a modified version of a shrine maiden's clothes with a loose kimono shirt that exposed her cleavage, which was held by a breast guard on her right breast. He knew he needed to stop staring, but it was too late. The woman saw him staring at her and was approaching the vehicle he was in while smiling widely.

_I really do attract trouble to myself,_ he thought to himself, groaning about his life.

VVVVVVVV

"Arrival" by Johann Johannson (Fan-OST)

_Play?_

VVVVVVV

Throne room of the Imperial Empire

After three weeks of containing the remaining otherworldly soldier in the upper districts of the Capital, they were finally put to a stop. Over three thousand were in bars, having suffered a loss of twenty thousand of their own soldiers. The Empire only suffered casualties as high as six thousand and five hundred.

Only three of the Rakshasa Demons have returned. They reported to Budo and Emperor Makoto that there were _two_ Gates on the other end, and that their enemy had settled on a valley, and were prepping to invade their world again. As for why one of their own was missing…

"Suzuka volunteered to stay behind to keep an eye on another group that came out of the second Gate on the other side," said Mez, a short, tanned woman with blonde hair and green eyes.

"Were they back up for our enemy?" the large general inquired. "Not quite." Budo glanced at the crouching man who almost always seemed to be smiling creepily. "Explain, Ibara."

"This new group we've witnessed have equipment and vehicles much more advanced than our enemy. And from the looks of their attire, they are not from our world, nor are they from the world of our enemy. You should have seen how they've slaughtered them all."

A dark laugh came from the other Rakshasa Demon; a man with unusual eyes named Sten. "The way they were set up, the foreign army only wielded firearms that are no less deadly than the ones used by your soldiers. They also had strange "elephants" machines that fire out explosive ammunition from its trunk. The enemy had no idea what they were up against. For all that was worth, they were quite the sight the moment they went to action."

"And from the looks of things," muttered Mez, "this new army could actually be two different armies working together, based on the flags they fly." The female Demon then pulled out a folded piece of paper from behind her, unfolded it and presented two drawings of the flags mentioned before. The first flag was pretty simplistic, all white with a red circle in the center. The second flag had more design and color to it, thirteen red and white stripes with a smaller blue rectangle by the top-left; within that blue rectangle were fifty white stars. Ever the child, Makoto gazed at the flags with wide eyes. "Can I see them, please?" Mez brought the drawing closer and as the child Emperor inspected them, he couldn't help but feel as if he had seen them somewhere before.

* * *

At an unmarked grave

2:00 AM (Imperial Time)

She barely remembered how she shambled to another world, but there she was standing by an unmarked grave. The smell of the corpse was female and had been dead for at least a couple of years. The grave was already dug up, revealing the corpse beneath her feet. The zombie woman didn't know why, but she felt the need to revive the dead woman in the ground. So she bit her own arm, just enough that blood would come out. The moment the Black Blood touched the corpse, it began to expand and wrap itself around it.

* * *

A fort of bandits, eight miles away from the Imperial Capital

Twenty minutes later

The bandits were somewhat confused of what was going on by the entrance. Two women boldly walked to their fort and the one with long pink hair and sunglasses demanded entry to the fort. The bandits had a great idea of pretending to be local guards for a nearby whilst treating them with hospitality. In truth, they planned to rob them of whatever possessions they have on them, but not without having _fun_ with the ladies first. Unknowing to the bandits, _that_ was part of her plan.

One of the scruffier men, likely the leader, peered at them with lascivious eyes. The pink-haired woman wore a black t-shirt, black pants, tanned boots marked with the word "Timberlands" stitched to the tongues, a grey cloak, and a white mask covering her nose and mouth; she had a scar peeking out from the right side of the mask. The woman next to her had long black hair, dull purple eyes, a birthmark under her left eye, was barefoot, and wore an elegant, albeit ragged, free-flowing purple dress. It was evident the black-haired woman was filthy from dirt, yet it did nothing to deter her beauty. While most of the bandits were taken in by the mysterious duo, one had an odd feeling in his stomach. Like there was something wrong with them.

"Well now," the bandit leader spoke, "what brings you ladies here to our fort?" Initially silent, the black-haired woman began to growl softly, at first. Then…

"RAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Arms stretched out, the woman grabbed the nearest man and bit him in the neck in a savage manner. Meanwhile, the pink-haired woman took off her mask, fully revealing her scar, which gave her a perpetual half-smile. "We want to feed." Those words couldn't be any more terrifying than seeing a pretty woman eating a man alive. But it was. "Since you're all about to die, I'll tell you my name, the one who will kill you all. You may call me Meg," the scarred woman rasped with a wide smile.

* * *

Throne room of the Imperial Empire

9:00 AM (Imperial Time)

The tension amongst the soldiers of the Empire and the rebels of the Revolutionary Army grew for every second they remained together. Not because they were with each other's enemy, but because of the leaders of their respective armies staring down at each other, daring the other to attack. The only thing that kept them from attacking each other, Budo, stood nearby. "Everyone listen up!" he boomed.

Everyone, including the rebels, straightened up, for they did not want to irritate the already annoyed general even further.

"Now, there are reports of yet another army on the other side of this Gate. They could be our allies or our enemies. Either way, we must be prepared for whatever happens once we cross to the other world." His eyes, hardened from past battles, scanned the many faces before him, including the Jaegers and Night Raid. The two teams that were forced to work together were staring each other down in not-so-subtle hostility. "I know that you all don't want to work with the ones that killed your comrades, killed your families, your friends. But, I don't care. Until then, WE are allies. We are fighting for the same goal together. We will bring whoever attacked our beloved Empire to justice and rescue those that have gone missing…"

One of the Night Raid members, the twin-tailed sniper, Mine, took glances at one particular Jaeger member with eyes of hate. The member in question, Seryu Ubiquitous, stared back with the same amount of hate, clearly wanting to kill the sniper in the name of "justice" the same way she killed Sheele, the former wielder of the scissor Teigu, Extase. Someone tapped on Mine's shoulder from behind. She turned her head to see her new teammate, Chelsea, shaking her head silently, not wanting the current situation to get out of hand. After the speech, the Jaegers and the Imperial Army marched into the Gate on the left side, meanwhile Night Raid and the soldiers of the Revolutionary Army marched on the right side. None have said a word, for they worry that one word could start a fight, and in turn, start the war again. One thing for sure, they were stuck together until the day they find they bring the perpetrator to justice. All that waited for them was the unknown on the other side.

* * *

Alnus Hill

July 29, 2025, 12:45 PM (Falmartian Time)

The Imperials came out of the second Gate next to the one they came out of, just like what Suzuka, the woman who stayed behind, said to the generals of the US Marines and the Japanese Self-Defense Force. It was strange to learn that there were multiple worlds for many of the military personnel present. But not for Gerome. Even though it was surprising that the Romanesque army came from another world and attacked in broad daylight, he found himself sighing as he stared at the next one coming out of the second Gate in anachronistic armor and armed with swords and firearms. Already, the Marines and the JSDF around him were on guard, uncertain of what to do. Uninterested, Gerome tried to slink away, only to get caught by Rodrick. "What the hell are you doing?" The aging Marine shrugged as he said, "Hiding away."

"Why?" Rodrick asked.

"I'm pretty sure you know why." He walked off, his rifle slung over his shoulder and sword hanging on his left hip, and headed to his tent, where he could listen to his songs in peace.

"Hello there." Or be constantly bombarded with conversations. He looked up to see it was Suzuka who entered his tent and looked around. Without any control over his heart, it began beating faster upon the sight of her. Gerome had to admit that she was a beautiful, albeit, one who wore a quirky outfit. _No! Pull yourself together you moron. Now is not the time to be acting like a creepy old man._ "Hello? Anyone home?" Suzuka approached the American and waved her hand in front of his face in confusion. He had been staring into space for twenty-five minutes.

"Ah!" cried Gerome when he finally snapped back to reality. "Sorry. Just thinking about how beautiful you look right now." It took five seconds of silence for Gerome to cover his face with his hands in embarrassment. _WHAT THE HELL. I said now is NOT the time to act like a creepy old man!_

"Oh," the black haired woman blushed. "Uh, thank you. Though at the moment, I am interested in someone else right now." She looked away blushing harder and her lips twitching upward slightly. That made Gerome sigh of relief…and disappointment. He hoped she could forgive him of the weird choice of words.

"Are you not going to join your comrades?" Suzuka inquired, sitting down across from the American. "It is only better if you do." Gerome just shrugged. "To be honest, I'd rather be home cooking street food, listen to music, and make my own manga." Upon hearing the word "manga", the woman lifted an eyebrow. "They're like comic books, but made in Japan, an island country in my world. Y-you'll find out when I show them to you."

"Do you have one here? I'd like to see it." The Demon's smile was just too cute to say no to. And so, the American and the Rakshasa Demon sat in the tent, talking about the life and culture of their worlds, as well as reading manga.

* * *

Akame

1:10 PM (Falmartian Time)

It was an odd feeling seeing new faces and new weapons. The uniforms of the army in front of them differed from one another. They all seemed to wear the same type of attire and use similar equipment, though some wore forest green uniforms while some wore light green or khaki colored uniforms. There was one, however that caught her eye. One of the soldiers, the one with the sword, stood out to her as odd the moment the man was dragged out and put into position. He seemed so reluctant to be here. Yet at the same time, his body language was that of a survivor. A survivor of dangerous places. She'll have to meet up with him when she has the chance.

* * *

Gerome

August 5, 2025, 12:30 AM

After a long talk amongst the generals of different worlds, something that the aging Marine almost fell asleep through, a temporary agreement was made between the Coalition and the Imperial Army. Currently, Gerome was on lookout for incoming enemies that could sneak in and try to kill them all in their sleep. What was too bad for the archaic enemy was while they were right to try and attack them in the darkest of night, he had his binoculars with night vision on. In other words, he just needed to catch them trying to sneak up on them and shoot up a flare in the sky to warn the Coalition and the Imperials. There was just one problem. Boredom. Just total utter boredom. The only thing that kept him from falling asleep entirely was his iPod, the occasional stargazing, and having small talk with a red-eyed assassin. The assassin in question, Akame, was, for lack of a better term, aloof and had an aura around her that Gerome could sense the moment he shook her hand. He couldn't stop a certain power from activating either. It was sudden. He never meant to. He couldn't control it. He could never stop seeing snippets of memories that were within

He could see her and a black-eyed girl, her sister, sold to the Empire, both of whom were later trained at a young age to be merciless killers. Years had passed, long enough for Akame to realize the untold amount of corruption in the government. She defected and fought against the Empire with Night Raid, an assassin group for the Revolutionary Army. After that, he never saw past that memory. The red-eyed assassin, he learned, had quite the appetite with how much meat she carried on her plate. It was hilarious to watch her eat like a starved animal while wearing a stoic mask. "So Akame, just wanna ask. What do you wanna do when this is all over?" "…" "Akame?" He looked up to see her frozen in mid-chewing.

Her silence told him that something was wrong, so he paused his iPod and looked through the binoculars. His facial expression went blank when he saw the moving dots of people _Wow. I mean, I figured that was their last option to overrun us while we're building our base here, but really? You would think that they would learn that if they couldn't touch us, thanks to our technology, then they would back off._

He sighed as he lowered the binoculars to take out a flare gun, load it, and aimed it up in the air. "Ready Akame?" he asked the assassin. Acknowledging her nod, he fired the flare, lighting up the landscape with a bang. "Time to kick ass again," he mumbled, tiredly.


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN:**_** Sorry for taking so long. Needed to take a break. So I've noticed you guys in the comments complaining about what I've written in there. Sorry about that, I'm still new to this so whatever confusing thing that comes up. Give it time though, I'm trying my best to do two stories at a time. Also, I've made a pilot fanfiction called "Stranger Things: Myojo Side", an AnR-Stranger Things crossover. I would like to know what you think about that.**

**Oh, and some characters from other series will be guests as well. Sorry for the late notice.**

**Anyway, enjoy the story!**

「ABC」= **Japanese**

"ABC"= **English**

[ABC] = **Common language of Falmart**

VVVVVVV

August 10, 2025, 10:00 AM (Falmartian Time)

West of Alnus Hill

Four days ago, an unmanned drone was sent out to scan the surrounding area around Alnus Hill and found a village just a few miles away. To gain more information about the world they were in, the higher-ups of three different militaries, the Coalition (Japanese/American forces) and the Imperial Army, decided to send out four recon teams, each one going north, south, east, and west. Gerome was with the 3rd Recon Team, which consisted of the members of the JSDF (Youji Itami, Shino Kuribayashi, Akira Tomita, Takeo Kurata, Mari Kurokawa, Souichirou Kuwahara, and Furuta Hitoshi), a member of Night Raid (Akame), two members of the Jaegers (Bols and Run), and four members of the US Marines (Rodrick Larsen, Jason McCoy, Sarah Nolan, and Gerome Richardson). Akame was with Itami, Kurata, and Hitoshi in one Humvee. Bols and Run were with Rodrick and Gerome in another Humvee. And Sarah and Jason were with Tomita, Kuribayashi, Kurokawa, and Kuwahara.

"Bols, right?" Gerome asked the large man behind him as he drove.

"Yes sir," Bols softly replied. Awkward silence ensued.

_Okay, this feels weird. Is he shy or something?_ the aging Marine thought to himself. Meanwhile, Rodrick was listening in on the radio, wondering what kind of conversational topics could be going on. Then two voices could be heard from the speakers, singing the opening theme song for the doujin, now anime, series, Mei-Com. While two of the Marines wanted to sing along, they needed to stop the singing before things became awkward for the Imperials. 「Sirs, 」 Gerome deadpanned, microphone on his hand, 「there is a place and time for singing anime songs. This is neither the place, nor the time to be singing these things. And besides, do you all want to embarrass us in front of the Imperials. Y'all might as well pull over, get out, take off those uniforms, set them on fire, and then come back in.

「In fact, 」 he ranted, his distinctive Cajun accent becoming noticeable, 「do it right now, so that when we come back to base, y'all be in yer underpants. Y'all can sing that song in front of everyone…!」

15 minutes of ranting later

Everyone was silent after the aging Marine's ranting about lack of military discipline and how goofballs like Kurata and Itami should be kicked out of the force for not taking things seriously. Other than that, it seemed to Rodrick that Gerome was looking rather depressed for some reason. When he asked his older friend if he was alright, he just shook him off and said that he was fine.

* * *

Outskirts of Coda Village

10:37 AM (Falmartian Time)

Gerome seemed a little off to Rodrick. While he and the others were making friendly contact with the locals, the aging Marine seemed to have wandered off to the forest a couple yards away. It was almost as if he didn't want to be on this recon mission in general.

"Hey Gerry!" Rodrick shouted out to him. "Where are you going?"

"Do you smell smoke in the air?" the aging Marine inquired.

"N-no, why are you asking this?" the young man, replied, nervously.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure of a woman stood under a tree a mile from the town, hearing everything that was going on. She stared at the aging Marine with wistful, reptilian, red eyes. "Oh, it's so good to see you again." Then, she sensed a dragon coming near the elf village. In reluctance, the woman left to the direction of the dragon, hiding from the people in the village.

* * *

Two days ago

Calvin, Louisiana

Richardson residence

7:00 AM (NA Central Time)

"Have any of you seen Meg?" asked the former Seventeenth Progenitor, Chess Belle.

"No," Krul yawned, setting up her bed.

"I haven't seen that woman in a while, no," Queen Tepes answered while watching a zombie movie. The iris-haired woman raised her arms in frustration, wondering where their resident zombie was at.

"She better not cause trouble again," she grumbled.

* * *

Imperial Capital

8:00 AM (Imperial Time)

The zombie, Meg, and her undead companion, Oarburgh, were walking through the streets, well fed to keep themselves from endangering the civilians. The objective was to survey for possible dangers in the giant city and find a base for her undead army to settle in. However, they could sense two unknown individuals following them. They tried to lose them at a weapons shop, only to be cornered by a large humanoid with horns like a buffalo. With no choice but to face their stalkers, they raised their hands to show that they won't try anything stupid.

"There have been suspicious activities going on around the Capital," the green-haired one said. "My friend and I were making sure that you wouldn't cause trouble here."

Meg looked at the boys, then the horned humanoid, contemplating on how to work out the situation peacefully. "We're not here to cause trouble, if that's what you're all wondering," she said hoarsely.

The humanoid was staring at the undead pair intensely, already analyzing the threat they could potentially pose. The results were astonishing for the Teigu. For the first time as a weapon/servant for his master, he could not see how threatening they were. The pink-haired woman and the dark-haired woman were entirely unknown to him. Something blocked some of his senses, which he suspected, came from the pink-haired woman. There was something about her that made him uneasy. Even the two Night Raid assassins had butterflies in their stomachs. Something wasn't right about them.

"It's not me you need to worry about," the pink-haired woman stated, breaking the silence among them. "My drones have picked up a group of hostiles heading to this city, all of which carry powerful weapons and have criminal backgrounds. If you want, I can give you more details on this group. In return…"

She motioned the men and Teigu to come closer as she whispered, "...I need a place for my comrades to stay in."

"Why?" asked the green-haired man, ready to restrain the two women, if they tried anything remotely hostile.

"Because as far as I can tell," she explained, "two Night Raid assassins, and a biological Teigu, will not be enough to stop a group of six dangerous criminals with only the three of you together. No, I'm here to back you up. But I need a large space, enough to keep my drones from the public."

"Uh, by 'drones'," the brown haired teen raised his hand, "what do you mean by that?"

If the human assassins could see her smile underneath her mask, they would be having nightmares about it. "Undead."

* * *

August 11, 2025

7:30 AM (Falmartian Time)

Burnt down village in forest

Third Recon Team had arrived to see what remained of the village, which was little to none at all, really. From anger to disgust to mournful, it was clear how much devastation the village has suffered. The cause of its destruction was a dragon, much larger than the wyverns used by the soldiers of the Empire. While the rest of the recon team surveyed the village for any survivors, Gerome was sitting on a well that was, surprising, still in good condition, as well as a bucket tied to the well. Akame walked up to him, wanting to ask something ever since she saw his troubled expression. "Sir, may I ask you something?"

Gerome looked over to see the red-eyed assassin to his left and sighed, "Sure go ahead." Akame then asked, "What is your government like? Is it anything like ours, where I'm from, or completely different?" The aging Marine just looked at her funny.

"I'm only a soldier, Miss, not a historian," he replied, looking away and picking up the bucket near his feet. "After all, as long as the American people are happy, I'm fine with that." He was about to toss the bucket into the well when he saw movement inside it. _The heck is down there?_ Putting down the bucket and taking out a flashlight, he shined down the well to get a better view at what he saw. And what he saw was a slender blonde girl, seemingly in her late-teens or early-twenties. "GAHH!"

Having startled her, Gerome, having mastered the local language, said in the calmest voice he could muster, [D-Don't panic! We're friendly, yeah? You've just been in there for a while, we just didn't expect anyone to be down there.] The girl below asked, [Who are you? Are you soldiers of Sadera?]

[No,] he answered, [we're not.] He turned to call out for a medic and rope to rescue the poor girl, but to the girl down in the well, it looked like the man was about to leave her alone. [No! Don't leave down here!] He waved his, saying, [Okay. I'm not leaving. I'll just tell my friend to send more help.] In English, he said to Akame, "Find the medic and get some rope and fresh clothes. I'm sure that this girl is shivering down there." The assassin nodded and jogged away to find Kurokawa, leaving the American alone with the trapped girl. Gerome lets out a big sigh, already feeling awkward being alone with a girl. Taking a deep breath, he looks down to the girl in the well, and said, [How long have you been in there?]

[I don't know,] she answered. [Th-the last thing I remember was… was…]

"Geronimo! I've brought what you've asked for."

He turned around to see Akame carrying rope and clothes. Kurokawa jogged behind her. _That was quick,_ he thought as sweat drips from his forehead. Looking back to the girl in the well, he told her that he'll be coming down to pick her up. Tying a rope to a vehicle was easy after all. After getting her out of the well-

"Oh my goodness."

-the aging Marine had a better look at her face. Not only did her beauty throw him off, but her ears also. They were pointed, but compared to the ears of vampires, they were much pointier. Before making himself look like a fool, staring at what could be an elf, Gerome asked, [Ahem. Are you cold?]

[Um, w-well…] was all she said.

"Ladies," he motioned to Akame and Kurokawa, "I'll leave her to you two. Check her temperature and change her clothes." He settled the elf girl down and took out a coat from his bag and covered her. Walking away, he added, "I'll also be over there with the others. Come over when you're done."

* * *

9:45 AM (Falmartian time)

Evacuating civilians of Coda Village

Helping with the evacuation of civilians was a chore that Gerome wanted to avoid. But being that he saved a young girl with a staff from being trampled on by a rabid horse, he had to go along with the flow. During the time of the evacuation, it was decided that the elf, Tuka, will ride in Sarah's Humvee. Over two hours later, he was getting sleepy and was about to trade seats with Rodrick when he had to slam the brakes to prevent himself from crashing into the other Humvee. "Okay, what the hell?" He looked behind and apologized to those that never experienced the sudden braking of a car, before parking and exiting the vehicle. Up ahead, there was a murder of crows flying above a person with—

"Rodrick, pass me the binoculars." Through the binoculars, he could see a little girl carrying a large halberd like it was nothing. She wore a black and red-ish outfit that reminded Gerome of the Gothic Lolita fashion in Japan, a large bow on her head and… was walking towards them. "Rodrick," he began, "there's a little girl carrying a big weapon heading our way."

"What?" Rodrick exited the vehicle to get a better view. "Uh, do you have any idea why the children are running up to the girl?"

Through the binoculars, Gerome could see the children surrounding and bowing and speaking to the girl. As far as he knew, the girl was revered as some religious figure or a prophet for the locals. After a few minutes of inaudible talking, the girl walked towards one of the Humvees with a childish smirk, her large weapon over her shoulder.

"_(STATIC) Uh, guys? The loli is staring at us funny. Help please? (STATIC)"_

A couple seconds after, the girl entered the Humvee Itami was riding in, then—

Gerome and Rodrick could see the Humvee ahead wobble a little, as well as hear some yelps from it. Jogging up to the vehicle to see what was going on; the two Marines see a door open ajar. They looked in to see a flustered Itami trying, and failing, to get the young girl off of his lap while she looked like she was having the time of her life. The words she said were full of weird innuendo and had also made suggestive actions towards the panicking Itami. Believing the poor Japanese man has had enough, Gerome lifted the girl out of the Humvee with his psychokinesis.

[Miss,] he began in a stern voice in the local language, [I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we have standards as to what's right and wrong. If you do not mind, try to keep your hands, and thoughts, to yourself.] While she looked silly floating in the air, he knew better than to immediately let her down. He could sense a dangerous being beneath that young exterior, something that stirred the moment he spoke to her. The glint in her eyes showed offense and her childish smirk became a smug grin. _Ah, crap. I must have insulted a grandma in a kid's body, _he sighed inwardly.

[Is that how adults are being treated these days?] the girl softly giggled. [Goodness me, if that's the case—] She stared into the aging Marine's eyes with the intent to kill. [—then you must be _punished_.] Her sentence ended with a calm and cold voice, full of malice, which made Gerome have shivers down his spine. It was at that moment that he knew, he SCREWED UP, big time.

[Hold up.]

Both the girl and Gerome turned their heads to see a short teen with short hair and holding a staff. The one he called "magic girl" because he never had the chance to ask her name. [There is a misunderstanding here,] "magic girl" said in a monotone voice. [This man is from another place, so he does not know who you are. You must forgive him.]

* * *

At a hilly valley

It was an hour and a half later and the heat was even more unbearable than usual. As a "punishment", Gerome had to sit with the "War God's apostle" in the same Humvee as him, making it very hard for the aging man to ignore. Said apostle had insisted in sitting in the Humvee he was riding in, much to his chagrin. With the heat, time felt very slow and made many people grumpy, including some of the Coalition. The aging Marine was about to make a fuss about the heat and ask the apostle, called Rory Mercury, to stop kicking his seat when he heard a loud Thwump from outside. Then came a giant shadow that covered most of the evacuees and the Coalition. He stuck his head out of the window to see what could be blocking the sun; his spine went cold from what he saw.

"DRAGON!"

"Everyone," Gerome screamed into the mic, "evasive maneuvers! The dragon from yesterday is here! Protect the civies!"

Almost immediately, the dragon opened its mouth to set fire to as many people as possible. Being that the locals only have horses and carriages, some of them did not have a chance to dodge the incoming flames. "Fire at that son of a bitch. Rodrick and I will distract him for you guys."

Gerome turned his head towards the two Imperials in the back. "Do any of you have ranged attacks?" he asked. Run did, but he reasoned that at the moment, the dragon is much faster in flight and that his Teigu is in the trunk of the Humvee. Bols's Teigu, a flamethrower-type, was also in the trunk. _Well, that's just our luck_, he thought as he took out his Beretta M9A1 pistol and took five shots at the hostile beast. While the weak 9mm bullets only served to annoy the dragon further, Gerome has its attention. "Hey longface! Your mama thought you were so ugly that she threw you away! I'm amazed that you are still alive!"

The roar was deafening that everyone had to cover their ears. _Well, it understood me at least._ [Do something Rory, please!] he yelled, having temporarily lost his hearing. She didn't need asking, hopping out of the military vehicle and grabbed onto her halberd from the roof that it was tied to. Meanwhile, gunfire rang in the air as bullets from assault rifles and a manned machine gun flew to the flying dragon in an attempt to take its attention away from the locals.

* * *

High above the sky, a dragon of deep crimson hovered, watching the battle between the humans and the Fire Dragon. Her red eyes had followed one of the horseless carriages with concern. Just then, she heard a voice from a man that she never thought she would hear again after three years of his absence. It was at that moment that she made her decision. She will not stay idle and watch the world in the shadows. Her friend was in danger, and no one, NO ONE, dares to hurt her friends.

* * *

11:55 AM (Falmartian Time)

All bullets, regardless of caliber, were bouncing uselessly off the dragon's scales, and they were running out of ammo. Their only chance of defeating this evasive living tank was a Panzerfaust 3, an anti-tank rocket launcher.

「"Oops, back-blast check." 」

「"JUST FIRE!" 」

The rocket was launched, but the dragon dodged it, letting the projectile fly in the wrong direction. "Everyone," Gerome screamed, "SCRAM!" Immediately, while firing whatever rounds they have left, the three Humvees separated from each other, dodging the dragon. Meanwhile, Sarah Nolan picked up another Panzerfaust 3, loaded it and aimed, ready fire when the time came.

"**ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"**

"Uh, what the hell was that?" Sarah asked fearfully as she lowered the rocket launcher.

"Gerry, what was that?" asked Jason McCoy, who was equally afraid.

Gerome looked out to see a tiny dot of shadow in the sunlight that gradually grew bigger and bigger, until it took shape of—

"There's another dragon to the east of us. We need to—"

_NO NEED. I'M HERE TO HELP._

"Who said that?" Gerome wondered.

With no time to react, a crimson dragon, much larger than the one attacking them, swooped in o the scene. What was thought to be a situation going south, the unexpected happened. The Fire Dragon began to cower and whimper while lowering its body to the larger dragon. "Geronimo," Sarah said through the radio, "are you seeing this?"

"No, I'm blind—Yes, I can see it!" the aging Marine grumbled. Everything became silent around Gerome as he looked at the large crimson dragon, which had a familiar twinkle to its eyes. And the voice in his head sounded familiar as well. It was like he _knew_ that voice from somewhere.

FLASH

"What the…?" Gerome and the others around him covered their eyes from the sudden flash of light enveloping the crimson dragon. It lasted for twenty seconds until the light died down. Now stood a dark-skinned, red-haired woman, wearing tribal garb, where the dragon was once before. It was then that Gerome widened his eyes in recognition; he had met her a long time before his disappearance in 2012. _What is she doing here?!_

"Oi!" the red-head shouted, waving her hand. "It is okay! Dragon is friend now!" While she spoke in a thick accent, she clearly spoke in English, which surprised those that can speak English. Only Gerome was surprised for a different reason. _Seriously, what is she doing here?!_ The unknown red-headed woman began to walk towards the 3rd Recon Team with a cheery smile on her face. Wary of her, the Coalition had put their hands on their weapons in case she tried anything that felt wrong to them. However, Gerome had something in mind.

"Wait a minute. I thought you were taking care of your people," he said to the woman.

"Oh yeah," she replied, flippantly. "Too much work. Ran away again. Exploring the world you know."

The soldiers of the Coalition and the remaining evacuees stared flabbergasted at the sight of a human talking to a dangerous being like he would to a friend at a park or a tavern. Which led to the question, does he know her? After being reassured by a slightly flustered Gerome that the woman was harmless, the soldiers, and Imperials, lowered their weapons, albeit with reluctance. Sarah was one of the first of the soldiers to run up to the aging Marine with the intent of slapping him silly out of confused rage.

"Okay, first off," she began with barely restrained rage, "who is that? How does she know English? And how do **you** know her?!"

"Hey!" the red-headed woman shouted. "Do not yell at my friend! He is good man! You are mean girl!"

"Alright, knock it off you two," Gerome sighed raising his hands to catch their attention. "It is a long story so here's the short version. I met this woman, Tianna, in 1999. Now that it's out of the way, how about we help these people bury their loved ones?"

* * *

8:15 PM (Falmartian Time)

It took over eight hours to bury around 90 people, many of whom were so brittle from the fire that they were buried right where they died. All prayers were then made by the locals and the soldiers, minus Gerome and the woman, Tianna. Afterwards, the village chief of Coda Village mentioned to the Coalition that they would have to leave the elderly and orphaned children behind. His reason for leaving them when questioned was, "Leave it to fate." After the chief and the evacuees left the fates of the remaining twenty-nine refugees to the Coalition did what they thought was right, under the command of Itami; bring the elderly and children to the base back on Alnus Hill. On the way to the hill, Sarah and a few of the Coalition members began asking Gerome about how he knew the dragon woman, Tianna. However, they were met with grumbling words and were asked to leave him alone. While the Marines did as he said, one unfortunate soul had the idea of asking about Tianna. The response was generally loud through the radio. And terrifying to hear. **"SHUT UP! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD RELATING TO TIANNA! I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT!"** Shaken, Itami could only utter the word "Sorry" and remain silent for the rest of the trip back to base.

* * *

Coalition base

11:38 PM (Falmartian Time)

He couldn't sleep. He just couldn't. Not after the stress being pushed to the limit by Itami. To relieve his stress, he went out to the outskirts of the base and began training with his sword, Asuramaru. His series of swings and shouts gained him an audience of two people. He was much surprised about Rory Mercury being a part of that audience than he was with Tianna, because earlier, he was so rude to her, calling her a child with a lewd mind. [What are you two doing here?] he panted. [Especially you, Rory. No offense, but I thought you would hate my guts after what I called you during the evacuation.]

[True. I still do,] the apostle replied with a smirk. [But I am curious about your skills. I can tell that you are a fighter. However, I do not appreciate on how you treated your comrades. And the way you look around your environment…]

She paused and though her smirk was there, Gerome could sense her negativity leaking out. [It's almost as if you want to run away.]

[You never answered my question,] the aging Marine said, wary of the immortal demigoddess. [Why are you here?] The answer he received was not what he expected.

[I'm curious as to how you fight,] Rory said.

_What?_ He was just training with his sword. He didn't know why the short apostle would be interested in him. [Are you asking if you could fight me?]

[He he he.] _Well that's just my luck…_

The fight between Rory the Reaper and the aging Marine was later seen by some of the Coalition and the locals of Falmart. To say the least, it was like watching a mesmerizing dance. It also gained the attention of one of the Imperial generals, Esdeath, who was interested in the two individuals fighting skills.

VVVVVVV

Gerome's iPod

"What You Know" by Two Door Cinema Club


	4. The Ford Edsel of Fanfiction

**_Yeah, yeah. I'll end it right here. I was losing motivation anyway._**


End file.
